Archive for August, 2017

The last day of August and we are amazed that the summer has zipped right by. We had a great week here. School starts tomorrow and we spent these last few days at a slower pace enjoying our remaining days of summer with Maeve and sleeping late. A few crops came from the gardens. A bounty of carrots were pulled from the hoop house and outside beds. It was a fun 2 days of harvest for us.

Carrots!

The funniest carrot we found below….

Maeve and Scott started the 2nd pear harvest and we plucked the last of the delicious watermelon from the patch. A fun week. Next week we tackle some clean up and hook up the new potato digger again and get the next round of potatoes from the field.

SUMMER SHARE #14

Such a great season for us! Lots of treats this week. 1031 pounds of goodness going home with share members.

A happy week here. The season is transitioning to Autumn with shorter days, we see the maple trees changing colors and wear long sleeve shirts in the mornings. Our days start a little later and end a little earlier as daylight fades. I love this time of year.

We peeked at the winter squash patch and were thrilled at what we saw. A favorite crop is just around the corner and a true sign that Autumn is near.

Winter Squash coloring up.

And pie pumpkins too.

We were glad the clouds parted briefly for Maeve to get a look at the eclipse and experience this amazing event.

Looking at the sun!

We had another huge harvest of tomatoes from the garden this week. So pleased and relieved as the crop is so much better than the last 2 years even with the cool wet Spring and cool nights now….we are grateful. More watermelons came from the patch this week too. An amazing season for us and so happy to share the bounty.

SUMMER SHARE #13

We jumped over 1000 pounds again this week. 1145 pounds rolling out of here!

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE-It is fun to say yet another great bounty this week! We held off on the carrot harvest until next week with all the goodness harvested this week. Carrot bonanza next week!

Head lettuce-A new summer favorite variety. Cherokee head lettuce. Beautiful and sweet.

Cherokee head lettuce at harvest.

Kale-We have been trying to sneak this in the shares for weeks…this is the week. A favorite of mine. Fresh in salads slightly wilted, great in soups, and of course kale crisp is a treat! An assorted bunch in every share.

Kale soaking in the dunk tank.

Cherry Tomatoes-A HUGE! cherry tomato harvest this week and several new varieties ripening up. A sweet and beautiful on called sunchocola that is a pretty shade of brown.

Sunchocola Cherry tomatoes at harvest.

Slice tomatoes-Delicious and tons to choose from.

This week’s tomato harvest. Phew!

Sweet summer onions-This is the end of our sweet summer onion harvest. We will make the transition to storage onions and shallots in the next few weeks.

Last of the sweet summer onions.

Sweet Peppers-We picked an assorted bounty and a few will be in every share. The peppers are just starting to really ripen. Looking forward to the delicious Italian fry peppers….

Beautiful!

Shishito sweet peppers-We are thrilled with these little sweet peppers that taste just like thin skinned green bells.

The huge harvests from the garden are keeping our days full. The summer bounty is here and it feels great. We have beautiful tomatoes everywhere after 2 big harvests from the garden that we had to use the tractor with a pallet to bring up the loads. Our autumn crops are sizing up and we even planted a nice long row of late late broccoli this week that we usually harvest with the 1st snow if all works out. It’s iffy but Scott and I feel it’s worth the try as it is always such a treat. More spinach and lettuces was transplanted into the hoop house and we even got a tiny bit of weeding done and seeding in for late season leafy green crops. A strong week here with a much needed drenching rain.

Tomatoes everywhere!

Hoop house is chugging along…the carrots we are going to be eating next week are off to the left.

Autumn leafy greens and spinach seeding in this week.

SUMMER SHARE #12

The start of Share packing….

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE

1244 pounds!!! WOW!

Yet another great share this week. Such a great season for us. We are thrilled that the sweet watermelon is here and more delicious corn from Uncle Jim. Both perfect for August meals.

Those pretty blue ones just starting to ripen at the top of the cluster.

Cherry tomato picking an every other day job.

Slice tomatoes-A HUGE! bounty to choose from this week.

Sweet peppers-We picked and assortment and they will appear in your share. 6 in all full shares. The tasty jimmy nardello’s are just starting to color up and a few sweet italian bull horns too. NO hot peppers those are on the “extra table” for you.

Leeks-the 1st of 4 varieties. Summer leeks are a treat.

King Richard leeks drying ready to be bundled for the shares.

Garlic-2 heads in every full share this week. We had high yield from the garlic patch and garlic will appear all season long.

Auntie Howdy-did you get a new sofa yet?

Zucchini-The end of zucchini. I’m ready. Enjoy these last little tasty beauties….

Cucumbers-May be the end of this crop too.

Nearing the end of a great cucumber season.

Beets-A favorite of mine-not Scott’s. We still struggle with growing a bounty of beets but are pleased they are here in the Full share.

Corn-Thank you Uncle Jim again for terrific corn!

Just picked corn from Uncle Jim’s farm.

Watermelon-I look forward to this crop every season. We grew several varieties….flesh colors-yellow, orange, pink, red and white. All sweet and a surprise when you cut into them.

The bounty from the watermelon patch.

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-head lettuce, leaf lettuce, radishes, carrots, spaghetti squash, kale (we keep trying to add this every week but we decide no as the shares are too big)-next week for sure, sweet peppers, cherry tomatoes, slice tomatoes and more….

Phew! Another fantastic week out in the gardens heavy with huge harvests. We spent our days picking “stuff” and our late afternoons washing “stuff” Long hours crawling down the bean and tomato rows, pulling the beautiful summer onions from the ground, pulling the pretty peppers from the plants, cutting the beautiful sunflowers and harvesting the best broccoli we have ever grown! The volume of produce that comes up each day is amazing. Our knees are a bit sore but our spirits are high.

Maeve and I did a watermelon check and we are almost there. A week or so and these sweet summer treats will be in the shares. A summer favorite.

Maeve cutting the watermelon with a sharp knife!!! for the 1st time.

Taste test……almost ripe.

A bit of fun stepping back to my past profession with a floral event. I created beautiful floral centerpieces all from product we grew. It was lots of fun and I enjoyed the time designing.

Hard at work with centerpiece design.

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE

August summer bounty is here with a huge share of goodness. 796 pounds went home with the CSA members this week! We were joking that we should offer cooler to car wagon service to get the goodies out the door.

Jalapeno peppers are here! We do not put any hot peppers in the shares…IF you are a hot pepper lover they will be on the “extra” table with all the other extra goodies for the remainder of the season. Take all you want.

Feels like a Fall morning out there today. The season is transitioning. Another fantastic week for us in the gardens. Near perfect weather and a huge tomato harvest! Life is good. We are rolling along getting the last of the late season crops in the ground. Fall spinach is going in for early harvests, late radishes, turnips and a little surprise too if all works out…..

The harvest schedule fills our days at this time of year. Hours of bean picking, cherry tomato picking, pulling the long row of summer onions, harvesting the peppers and walking the zucchini and cucumber rows. Transitional lettuces need to be transplanted into the hoop house and then we weed! Scott was able to till all our walking rows over the weekend and things look good.

The pear trees need another week or 2 before harvest with the cooler temps this week and honestly we are relieved as the Share this week is a bounty!

What we get to see everyday at “work”….Beautiful!

A Fall Surprise we planted this week…..

SUMMER SHARE #10

Half way through the season…..

WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE

It’s an amazing share again this week. 795 pounds of perfect produce going home with members. Treats! Enjoy it ALL.

Head lettuce-We harvested 3 varieties this week from the hoop house and 2 different heads are in each share….

Beautiful Cherokee Head lettuce at harvest.

Cherokee Lettuce in the morning sun.

Beans-Our 2nd rotation of green beans kicked in this week. A nice big bag with a few yellow beans too that are just starting to mature…

Green beans at harvest. 1st picking of our 2nd planting.

Sweet Peppers-We picked and assortment this week and 2 in every share.

Cucumber Medley-An assorted bag again this week. 1st patch is slowing down and the 2nd is just starting up.

Sweet Summer onions-A bag of these tasty treats. We are just starting to harvest our loooooong row of sweet onions.

Harvesting the onions on a HOT! afternoon.

Zucchini-Picked small and tender….several in each share.

This week’s zucchini harvest.

Cherry tomatoes-A pint in all the snack packs-washed and ready to eat.

Picking Cherry Tomatoes…some are so big we are calling them mini slicers….

Washed cherry tomatoes air drying before we box them up.

Slice tomatoes-Here they come! You choose 3 this week.

This week’s slice tomato harvest.

Corn-4 ears from Scott’s Uncle Jim. This is conventionally grown corn. We do not grow our corn.

Garlic-1 head from our bounty harvest.

Basil Plant-We had to include a basil plant to celebrate the kick off to the slice tomato season. a variety called Dolce Fresca. Cut and use for a meal OR upgrade to a larger pot and grow for the remainder of the summer.

Mini Cabbage-Our favorite! Perfectly sized for a meal or 2. Sweet and crunchy.